Peanut-harvester.



R. E. THOMAS.

PEANUT HARVESTER.

APPLICATKON FILEDVSEPT. 12. 1917.-

l,263,14=9. Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

ATTORNEY pnirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE. 7

ROBERT E. THOMAS, OF. nose -OKLAHOMA. 1

- seesaw-Heaviest:

Specification of Letters Patentnp neatibh fiieuse tmb'er 121 1 9172 serialmessages' Zb-all whom z't-may concern f 1 Be it knowntha't I,.R0Bi 1R'r THOMAS,2t

citizen of the United States,- r'esidin'g at Hugo, in the county of Choctaw and S'tate of Oklahomm'haveinvented newa'nd useful In the accompanying drawing has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawing,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a deviceconstructed in accordance with the inven tion.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 83 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail View taken on the line H in Fig. 3.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

Referring to the drawing, 15 designates a ring or hoop which may be made of bar steel of any suitable dimensions, it being found that material two inches wide and three-eighths of an inch in thickness is suit able for the purpose. The hoop '15 which may be of any desired diameter is preferably formed by bending the bar from which it is formed and overlapping the ends of said bar, the overlapped ends being secured by means of bolts 16 on the top face of a beam 17 near the rearward end of the latter, the ends of the bar might be welded together but this is not considered necessary by the construction shown and described.

Secured 0n the inner face of the hoop 15 in the bottom portion thereof is a digger blade 18 made of sheet steel, said blade bethough the side edges?thereofare pre-fera-bly rounded in a forward dire'ction where they term nate in the -point l9. The 'blade is cur ve d"to conform to th -curvature:er: a hoop -on=which it may be bolted; riveted or 5 with the" b'eam by f forwardly extendih g ibracesQO; Handles' are also conneeted with thesides of the beam sli ghtly" i11 advanc'e of the hoop15;-said haiidles extend- :ingiforwardly and ream'vardly- 'T-he haudles are reinforced by means of a U-sha-ped "bee-e22 the -1 ,-mbs--' at which" are tantamv secured on the lnner faces of the handles, the

bridge portion of said brace being connected with the hoop and with the beam by means of the bolts 16, the latter serving to assemble together the beam, the hoop and the U- shaped brace, and also to connect together the overlapped ends of the bar from which the hoop is formed. The handles will thus be strongly reinforced and the parts of the device will be assembled together in a very effective and durable manner. A draft clevis 23 may be seen at the front end of the beam.

That portion of the hoop which extends beneath the digger blade and which extends ingof substantially triangulan rd-maiupwardly adjacent to the sides thereof below the braces 20 is preferably beveled to produce a sharp cutting edge thereby avoiding any obstructions to the progress of the machine when in operation.

For the purpose of gathering the vines in advance of the machine and guiding the same into the hoop 15, gathering members or hooks 24 are provided, the same being connected with the beam 17 and well in advance of the annular hoop, and the said hooks being so shaped as to gather the vines tion will be readily understood. The device a V the roots, the vines passing unobstructedly through the hoops behind which they are ,7 left on the ground in a convenient position to be subsequently gathered by means of' a pitch fork. Peanuts and the like may in this manner be easily and inexpensively harvested Without loss and Without necessity for stooping in gathering the vines in the manner now usually practised.

What is claimed, is

1. A device of the class described comprising a beam, a hoop, having overlapped ends above said beam, upwardly and rearwardly extending handles secured to the sides of the beam in advance of the hoop, a U-shaped brace, the limbs of Which are secured to the inner faces of the handles bolts assembling the bridge portion vof the U- shaped brace with the beam and with the overlapped ends of the hoop, and a digger \vardly extending handles secured to the 1 sides of the beam in advance of the hoop, a U-shaped brace, the limbs of Which are secured to the inner faces of the handles, bolts assembling the bridge portion of the U- shaped brace With the beam and With the overlapped ends of the 'hoop, a.nd adigger blade carried by the hoop, said blade being curved to conform to the curvature of the hoop, the portion of the hoop lying beneath the digger, and extending upwardly adjacent to the sides thereof being beveled to produce sharp cutting edges.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ROBERT E. THOMAS.

@optee or this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Eommissioner of rams,

Washington, I, G. 

